1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to containers for storage, transport and use of liquid chemicals including acids, solvents, bases, photo-resists, dopants, inorganics, organics, biological solutions, pharmaceuticals, and radioactive chemicals. In particular, the invention relates to a container which uses a disposable film pouch within a bottle or overpack, and to dispensing systems used in conjunction with this container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently, the users of liquid chemicals have had a very limited choice of packaging, delivery, and disposal methods for those chemicals. One prior art system delivers chemicals from a bulk source, usually a 55 gallon drum, to the point of use. This type of delivery system, including the drums, piping, and automated delivery equipment, is very expensive, making it usable by only a small number of manufacturers whose volume is sufficient to justify the high cost.
A second, most widely-used alternative is to handle the liquid chemicals in bottles made of glass or polyethylene. This alternative, however, has several disadvantages. In particular, glass and polyethylene have been shown to contribute both particulate contamination and metal-ion extractables which significantly compromise the level of desired purity of liquid chemicals. In addition, the dispensing methods used with glass and polyethylene bottles also compromise the purity of the chemical contents. Manual decanting exposes chemicals to atmospheric contamination, and also can compromise the safety of the technicians handling the bottles. With glass bottles, there is also the danger of breakage; even slight abuse to the bottles can be very hazardous if breakage occurs. Disposal of empty bottles is also a major concern. Disposal typically requires triple rinsing, tagging, and crushing before sanitary disposal. This process is labor intensive and tedious.
A third alternative is the use of blow-molded fluoropolymer bottles. With this alternative, the manual handling of the bottle (as opposed to bulk delivery) is maintained, yet the fluoropolymer bottle provides inertness which is critical to maintaining the of the chemicals being handled. These-blow molded bottles, however, are very expensive and therefore have only been cost justified by the use of a returnable program in which the bottles are returned to the manufacturer for processing and reuse. A returnable program, however, presents numerous logistical problems for suppliers and users alike.
There is a continuing need for improved containers and systems for storage, transport and use of liquid chemicals. In particular, there is a continuing need for containers which are much lower in cost yet offer the handling characteristics of fluoropolymer bottles or of automated delivery systems.